The Patriots defeated the Cardinals 23-21 in a game that I was convinced New England would have lost even if Brady and Gronkowski were on the field. “I think Tom Brady’s got a couple more years.so you gotta be patient”.
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It was phenomenal Sunday night.
But the Patriots needed a little help.
Blount wasn’t efficient but he was the primary chain-mover as New England played keep-away from Arizona.
In addition to lauding Brady, Esiason had high praise for Bill Belichick and the Patriots’ coaching staff, saying that Sunday night’s win showed why it’s now the best staff in the NFL.
The Cardinals had a chance to win it, driving to the Patriots’ 29-yard line in the final minute of play.
LOW SNAP, BIG MISS: The snap on what would have been the game-winning field goal for Arizona was low, the first big moment for the Cardinals’ rookie long snapper.
Catanzaro took responsibility for the miss.
The good news though is that particular statistic is likely to correct itself, and the Cardinals defense looked great in other areas, with the exception of one area: cornerback opposite Patrick Peterson.
“Nothing to the point that can’t be corrected”, Arians said. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called a great game for Garoppolo, who handled his assignment well, completing 24-of-33 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown. He never seemed rattled. Garoppolo looked ready for the spotlight on the Patriots last drive. That would be ridiculous considering Garoppolo has one game under his belt and Brady’s played 225 career games. But going out on a limb and saying a team will go undefeated requires a lot of confidence in said team. With the ball inside the two-yard line, Fitzgerald went out for a quick fade in the back left corner. “We played good football, but we did not play ideal football”.
With Jimmy Garoppolo stepping in for the suspended Tom Brady, the Pats offense was extremely functional, on the road, against a team that many have picked to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LI.
“It is hard”, Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson said.
If there is one major change to come out of this game, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a new kickoff returner. The offensive line, which paved the way for a very productive running game in the preseason (yes, we know it was only preseason) failed to create a lot of room to run through, although second-year right tackle D.J. Humphries, making his first National Football League start, did receive kudos from general manager Steve Keim. But the Dolphins still have no unsafe offensive players after wide receiver Jarvis Landry – Kenny Stills dropped a surefire touchdown, new running back Arian Foster gained 2.9 yards per carry and struggling tight end Jordan Cameron caught two balls for six yards.
However, Garoppolo, charged with replacing Brady during the future Hall of Famer’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in the “Deflategate” controversy, brought his team back and proved the Las Vegas oddsmakers, who listed New England as nine-point underdogs, to be dead wrong.
“I think all good quarterbacks are good at that”, Belichick said. “I thought we got great effort from all three phases”. The team that beat them?
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The Cardinals had a chance to win it, but Chandler Catanzaro missed a 47-yard field goal with 41 seconds left.
